Some citizens call for the resignation of Clark County Sheriff Douglas C. Gillespie!

For Immediate Release:

Steve Sanson Gulf War Veteran and President of Veterans In Politics (702) 283 8088

Bruno Moya Iraqi Veteran and Member of Veterans In Politics (702) 498 4660

Some citizens call for the resignation of Clark County Sheriff Douglas C. Gillespie!

Veterans In Politics International believe that Clark County Metropolitan Police Officer’s have a lack of training and no training in recognizing PTSD!

Some citizens call for the resignation of Sheriff Doug Gillespie saying there are too many officer involved shootings and this is the second military veteran to die at the hands of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Is it the policy of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to follow the lead once one officer fires a weapon? There appears to be a consistent pattern in a lack of organization and leadership when the police are faced with difficult situations. There appears to be little to no problem solving or solution focused choices as well as a lack of any clear plan or training in place.

The police officers are not the ones that should be blamed, it is the larger system at fault. Although there are a few officers that are not appropriate to be officers it is the responsibility of the leaders in the department to identify and prepare them for difficult situations they may face on the job. In addition the department should not protect the mistakes made by any officer and be able to hold them responsible for any mishap that has occurred instead of being concerned about ‘bad’ publicity. Ultimately dishonesty and poor leadership will reveal itself.

Officially, Gulf War Veteran Stanley Gibson died at the hands of Metro police officers. However the cause of Stanley Gibson’s death is actually more tragic, more damning, and more shameful. The bitter truth, the dreadful irony, is that Stanley Gibson survived fighting a war abroad only to be killed at home by the callous indifference and bureaucratic ineptitude of the very institutions that purport to help veterans and to protect citizens.

On the day he was killed, Stanley Gibson had been without medication to treat his PTSD because the Veterans Administration cancelled his doctor’s appointment and failed to re-fill his prescription. Before that, Metro found him disoriented and arrested him, promising his wife he would be subject to a 72-hour hold to evaluate his mental condition before being released. Yet he was released without any examination or hold. A short time later, he became disoriented trying to get home and found himself in the wrong apartment complex, where Metro was summoned. This tragic event could have been easily prevented if the department followed through.

After arriving, Metro officers found him alone and bewildered, unarmed sitting in his car. They blocked his car with their cruisers, surrounded him, and shot him to death. And like any institution unburdened by accountability, Metro confidently stated that the officers’ actions were justified, indicating that Gibson had rammed a police cruiser and officers fired in self-defense. When video of the incident was released showing this never happened, Metro retracted, slightly, by indicating the investigation was ongoing.

The hope of course is that the killing of Gulf War Veteran Stanley Gibson will have some meaning and that the community’s collective cries of outrage will finally spark meaningful change in two regards: First, a long-overdue federal investigation of Metro’s use of force policies. And second, that a brief hush will fall over the ineffectual bickering and pandering in Washington long enough for our elected officials to hear the silent suffering of our best and brightest, our veterans. If this happens, if Stanley Gibson’s passing can make our community and our country more fair, more humane, more noble — in short, more American — then Stanley Gibson’s death will be patriotic, as his life was.